Macklemore, Ryan Lewis Rock MTV Movie Awards With ‘Can’t Hold Us’

While Macklemore made his way down the 2013 MTV Movie Awards red carpet with Ryan Lewis on Sunday night (April 14), host Vinny Guadagnino couldn’t refrain from asking the Seattle rapper if his royal-blue outfit was purchased from a “thrift shop.” But when the duo hit the stage to perform later, it was all about their new single “Can’t Hold Us.”

Snoop Lion, sporting a red fur jacket and passing what looked like a joint to Ke$ha, introduced the set, and the action began right away. The Heist artists are known for their high-energy performances and tonight was no exception, with Macklemore bounding onto the stage still sporting his blue suit with yellow trim, tassels and all. If low-energy moments require someone trailing you and playing somber violins, then a bandmember clad in a sombrero playing the horns behind Macklemore seemed totally appropriate for occasion.

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As Macklemore climbed the upper levels of the stage and found his way into the crowd, fist-pumping with the microphone as he stood on fans’ hands, R&B/gospel singer and fellow Seattle native Ray Dalton made his way onstage to assist on the hook. Clad in a black suit, Dalton balanced out the rapper’s frenetic energy as he sang flawlessly and the screen behind him flashed with a ship forging through stormy seas.

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After the halfway point of the performance, Macklemore couldn’t help but strip away a couple of layers of clothing, revealing a fitted leather shirt beneath all of that blue (which we think Kanye West would approve of). Earlier in the night, Macklemore hinted that he might actually strip off a few more layers, just short of getting nude, but maybe he got shy.

“There’s not gonna be frontal nudity
. Not frontal,” he told MTV News backstage at rehearsals, going on to share some of his other potential plans. “I was trying to get a little dry-hump session on with Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx. I think I got shut down on that too.”